Vacation

Wakanda Forever! These costumes were awesome.My table partner this year was Cartoon Flophouse’s Michael Aushenker. We are kind of goofing off in this picture.With our visitor, Frederick Luis Aldama who is a Professor of English and Distinguished Scholar at The Ohio State University. He teaches courses on Latinx & Latin American culture including literature, film, TV, music, sports, video games, and comic books. He is the author and editor of thirty-four books, including the Eisner Award-winning “Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics.” Of course, this photo was taken approximately 8 or so hours before winning his Eisner Award at the 2018 Comic-Con! Congratulations Profe, we are so proud of you!The Korean ice cream that I picked up at SomiSomi, San Diego. It’s black sesame & taro swirl with happy toppings. The waffle cone is shaped like a goldfish!The Grady twins were one of my favorite costumes.Just for fun, the Tightrope Girl from Disney’s Haunted Mansion.Black Heroes Matter, the Pink Panther!The highlight of the convention for me was meeting Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. (Eric Singer though!)Before leaving San Diego, I had to stop at the Boba Bar for a fruit “puffle” made with a delicious waffle, pineapple ice cream, fresh fruit and drizzled with honey. The perfect ending to the perfect day.

This was my last day in Europe, so I made the best of it before my flight home.

I spent the morning at the Eiffel Tower, a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It’s named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed and built the tower.The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants and gift shops on the first and second levels. This is the view from the first level, overlooking the city.At lunch, I headed over to the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.The dome inside the church has a giant mosaic of Christ in Glory by Olivier Merson, H. M. Magne, and R. Martin and is one of the largest mosaics in the world. It represents the risen Christ, clothed in white and with arms extended, revealing a golden heart. Surrounding him, in various sizes, a world of adorers is represented, including the Saints who protect France: the Virgin Mary and Saint Michael, Saint Joan of Arc, as well as a personification of France offering her crown and Pope Leo XIII offering the world.I had lunch at Place du Tertre Montmartre, which is an area known as the “Painter’s Neighborhood”, its small and steep narrow streets are home to the oldest cabarets. This area is also full of restaurants with terraces and painters selling their work to tourists and locals.Had the best Crème brûlée dessert in this neighborhood.After lunch, I had a few hours before my flight home so I walked through the streets of Rue de Steinkerque at the bottom of the hill, which is filled with souvenir shops.I couldn’t leave Paris without a visit to my favorite chocolate shop, Maison Georges Larnicol for souvenir chocolates and macarons. This is a beautiful chocolate which has a mold of The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, The Moulin Rouge, and The Arc de Triomphe. I picked this up for my brother who asked me to bring him chocolate from France.I also picked up chocolate Eiffel Towers for my nieces and nephews. Goodbye France, I will miss you!

On Monday, we spent the day in Colmar, France. We took the train, it’s an hour away by the train, going east.

Colmar is a town in the Grand Est region of northeastern France, near the border with Germany. The town has cobblestone streets lined with half-timbered medieval and early Renaissance buildings. It is also known as “Little Venice”.

The whole city looks like a page out of an old fairy tale with churches, cobblestone streets, cute houses, and canals. It’s not very big so everything is walking distance. The city is quite charming.Colmar is also the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi, who created the Statue of Liberty in the New York Harbor. A replica of the Statue of Liberty greets visitors in the middle of town. The copper-green resin replica stands 39 feet high in the middle of a busy roundabout at the north end of town. So whether you’re driving in from Strasbourg on the D83, or heading into town from the Colmar airport, you’ll be welcomed by a lovingly rendered homage to the work of a local boy who made good.

The town also has little metal markers throughout the city to help guide your walking tour, although they lead everywhere and I didn’t notice they took you anywhere in particular. It was still fun to follow them.At the end of our day trip, we took the train back to Paris and visited the famous Arc de Triomphe. Many people do not realize that you can go to the top, if you look at the picture closely, you can see people standing at the top of the arc.

This is the view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc.The view from the top of the Arc looking towards the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle.

As fun as the cruise was, all good things eventually come to an end. The ship brought us back to Venezia and before flying out to Paris, we made the best of our time remaining in Italy and went on a gondola ride.

Waiting for the next gondola. This is where I hitched a ride on a gondola with my cousins.Cruising through the canals through Venezia.I purposely tried to dress like a gondolier today…The Rialto Bridge is one of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venezia. It’s the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo.After the gondola ride, I stopped and had pizza on the way back to pick up my luggage from our luggage lockers.After the flight into Paris, we checked in to our hotel and booked it down to the Moulin Rouge to catch the 9 o’clock show.Feeling a little bit tipsy from the champagne. After the show we stopped to eat on the way back to the hotel. What a night. Tomorrow will be amazing in France.

The port of Kotor is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is known for its medieval structures (including churches) and its stunning natural setting at the very edge of the mountain-rimmed Kotor Bay.“Saint Stephen” is a small island and 5-star hotel resort on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro, approximately 3 miles southeast of the town of Budva.Walking through the Old Town of Budva. While the site was permanently settled since the Roman era, most of existing city walls and buildings were erected during the Venetian rule. The entire town is encircled with defensive stone walls. The fortifications of Budva are typical of the Medieval walled cities of the Adriatic, complete with towers, fortified city gates and a citadel.Strolling through the farmer’s market outside the Square of Arms.The Cathedral of Saint Tryphon in Kotor is one of two Roman Catholic cathedrals in Montenegro. It is the seat of the Catholic Bishopric of Kotor which covers the entire gulf, currently led by Bishop Monsignor Ilija Janjić.“Our Lady of the Rocks” is an artificial island created by a bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks. The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rocks is the largest building on the islet; it has a museum attached. According to legend, the islet was made over the centuries by Croat local seamen who kept an ancient oath after finding the icon of Madonna and Child on the rock in the sea on July 22, 1452. Upon returning from each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the Bay. Over time, the islet gradually emerged from the sea. The custom of throwing rocks into the sea is alive today. Every year at sunset, on July 22, an event called “fašinada” takes place where local residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea, widening the surface of the island.

Our last day in Greece was on Friday. We decided to spend the whole day swimming at Palaiokastritsa beach.

This is the road that leads you to the Palaiokastritsa beach.Palaiokastritsa is located in the north Ionian sea at the northwestern edge of Greece. The cool crystal waters are ideal for swimming and water sports. On most of the beaches, there are taxi boats, sun beds, umbrellas, motorboats, and canoes for rent. We went on a motorboat ride.The boats take you through small coves as you enjoy the views of turquoise waters and the caves.Had a wonderful time. This is one of the nicest beaches and definitely one of my favorite places in Greece.Spent a few hours here swimming in the crystal clear water.The rocks overlooking the bay were tricky to climb but simply divine.The Greek islands are very special and I have lovely memories.Before heading back to the cruise ship, I picked up this greek candy as a souvenir. I had eaten all of it before getting off the boat at our last port in Montenegro. The name “Mantolato“ comes from the Italian word mandorla (that means almond) and besides almonds it contains a lot of honey, a little sugar and egg whites’ meringue.

On Thursday, our cruise ship docked in the port of the city of Athens.

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus.A myth explaining how Athens acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements and battles between themselves, and one of these was a race to be the Patron God of the city. In an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity, the Athenians, under their ruler Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and named the city after Athena.At the National Garden (Εθνικός Κήπος) which is a public park of 38 acres in the center of the Greek capital, Athens. It is located directly behind the Greek Parliament building (The Old Palace) and continues to the South to the area where the Zappeion is located, across from the Panathenaiko or Kalimarmaro Olympic Stadium of the 1896 Olympic Games.The Panathinaïkó Stádio, or Kallimarmaro is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. One of the main historic attractions of Athens, it’s the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on an extremely rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Pantheon.Standing in front of the Erechtheion, an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.Standing above the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, it’s a stone theatre located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. The building was completed in 161 AD.The Acropolis is located on a flat-topped rock that rises 490 ft above sea level in the city of Athens, with surrounding views of the city. As you can see in my picture, it’s a very large city.After a day of exploring Acropolis, I stopped in a cafe while I waited for the tour bus and had a Frappé coffee. In Greece, it’s a foam-covered iced coffee drink made from instant coffee (generally, spray-dried Nescafe), water and sugar. It was thick and delicious.Before heading back to the cruise ship at the end of the day, we spent some time in the “Plaka”, which is a famous area for shopping and eating. I had another gyro at the Taverna Restaurant.

Santorini is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, southeast of Greece’s mainland. It is the largest island of a small circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. There is no docking port, so we had to arrive by tender.The city of Santorini or “Oia” is a settlement on the north of the island at the top of the Caldera cliffs. The village is approximately 150 meters above sea level and to reach the top, we had to get on a tour bus, it took about 45 minutes to reach the city at the top of the island.Almost everyone who has visited Santorini has taken a picture somewhere with this church in the background. The blue-domed church, is called “Anastaseos”, which means “Resurrection of Christ”.In Oia there are two types of dwellings, the cave houses dug into the volcanic rock on the Caldera cliffs and the Captain’s houses. The cave houses used to be the Captain’s ship crews, whereas the Captain’s houses belonged to the affluent class of ship owners. Many of the churches in Oia were dedicated to sailors.Another view of the village with charming houses in narrow streets, blue domed churches, and sun-bathed verandas. Its streets have plenty of shops, taverns, cafes, and other specialty shops. The busiest area is the main pedestrian walkway that runs along length of the top of the hill. At the entrance of the village is a car park where visitors can leave their vehicle and enjoy long walks in the picturesque paths.You’ll need to bring your water and walking shoes and just walk and enjoy this beautiful town. I loved it here so much. I can’t wait to come back.After a day of exploring Santorini, I had a nice Greek beer called “Volkan”.

This is our cruise ship, the MSC Musica. It’s a European cruise line with passengers from all over the world. It’s the first cruise I have ever been on.In Olympia, we visited the ancient Greek archeological site Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula. It’s known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. These are the ruin remains of the Temple of Zeus.The sanctuary of Olympia and its surrounding area are preserved in almost intact condition, from ancient times till today. In the sacred Altis, Zeus’ sacred forest, the same tree, and plant species are found, as in antiquity. When visiting the archaeological site of Olympia, you can feel the spirituality of the landscape.The site of Olympia was once the most important religious and athletic center in Greece. It was also home to a 13-meter-tall statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which is believed to have been destroyed in a fire.After leaving the site of the ruins, we walked around the quiet little town and bought souvenirs.I tasted olives and olive oils at one of the shops.And of course, I had my first gyro in Greece! I say first because this is only one of many that I ate all over Greece!